


Back in Time

by Rachel3003



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Future children - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Warnings Will Be Added as Needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 05:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15942707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel3003/pseuds/Rachel3003
Summary: Yellowstone National Park, November 22th, 2019. Suddenly, the air stills and all sound stop. All the animals freeze and raise their head, looking into the woods. From between the trees starts to appear a greenish light. Six resounding thuds can be heard before the howling stops and the light fades away in a sudden flash. AVENGERS BELONGS TO MARVEL STUDIOS.





	1. Chapter 1

Yellowstone National Park, November 22th, 2019. The air is cold, the animals prepare for the upcoming winter. The sun shines bright, though, and at least it warms the earth enough to keep it from freezing. The birds sing a wild song in a melody unknown to the human ear, the bisons graze peacefully and the hares hop around in search of something sweeter than grass to eat.

Suddenly, the air stills and all sound stop. All the animals freeze and raise their head, looking into the woods. The young bisons, more sensitive to the tension in the air, frolic around their parents, anxious to get away from the foreboding feeling that emerges from deep within the forest.

And then, from between the trees starts to appear a greenish light and supernatural winds blow from inside the woods. The birds fly away in terror, the hares run into the cover of their den and huddle inside, trembling in fear of the unknown. The bisons roar a command to their young and they all trot as far away as they can get. 

The light gets brighter and the winds harder, trees get uprooted from the soil and sucked into the light. The only sound that can be heard for the next seconds is the howling of the winds, until the terrified cry of a human being breaks through it, followed by several more. Six resounding _thud_ s can be heard before the howling stops and the light fades away in a sudden flash, leaving only the moaning and groaning of six humans that lay in the grass in a mess of limbs.

“Ugh, get off me!”

“You get off!” 

“ _Eww!_ What the hell am I touching?!” 

“That’s my ass, you pervert!”

“Gah! Stop moving!”

“Guys, shut the hell up!!!”

All movement stops and everybody close their mouth with a resounding clank of their teeth. With a few movements, a lone figure disentangles itself from the pile. It’s a young female, probably in her mid teens; blonde with pink highlights and deep grey eyes. She looks over her friends and finally smiles, locating what she’s been looking for. A silver, double head war hammer with the handle half her height long and the head twice as big her own. She extends her hand towards it and it flies to her. She grabs it effortlessly and swings it over her shoulder so it rests over it.

“Ok, you can continue now.” The rest of the gang looks at each other before another voice, male this time, interrupts before they can do anything. 

“Don’t even think about it!” 

He’s the one that get’s up next, he’s older than the girl, most likely in his late teens, probably an adult already. His tousled hair is a lively red and his eyes a contrasting deep blue. He cards his fingers through his ginger locks, messing them up even more before bending over and helping his friends up one by one.

The first one is male, a bit older than him and slightly shorter than him, with dirty blond hair and green eyes. He utters a quiet _Thanks, Bro_ before patting him on the back and letting go. The second one is a female, same age as him. Her hair is midnight black and her eyes a light blue. She smiles at the boy and peck a kiss on his cheek. He blushes and lets go of her to help the remaining female on the ground, she’s slightly younger, her hair is long and brown and her eyes are black. 

He turns to his friends and sees the blond boy helping the last teen up on his feet. He’s the youngest of them all, probably in his early teens. His eyes are a strikingly light blue and his hair is black. 

“So… where are we?” asks the blonde girl, tapping the hammer against her shoulder as if it weights nothing. They all shrug and she tilts her head to the side before raising the hand that isn’t holding the hammer to her left ear and pressing the button on the device hooked over her ear. “Peter? Peter, come in.” she waits for a second before sighing. “My com is down, guys.” 

“No, it’s not. I heard you. It’s his that doesn’t work.” Says the oldest of the group. He looks around the ground and groans, throwing his arms in the air. “Where’s my bow?!” 

“Here, you goof!” the redhead tosses a black, metallic bow to him before starting to examine his vambrace. He presses a few of the buttons to see if they still work. When he confirms that indeed it does, he turns to the black-haired girl and smiles at her. “Does your suit work, Piper?” she smirks and raises a brow at him.

“Please, James, it’s Dad’s newest model, of course it works.” He just shrugs and grins; she gives him another kiss, on the lips this time. “God, you’re such a dork.” 

“Will you stop flirting for one second and help us figure out where we are?” complains the shortest of the group, looking at them with bored eyes as if he’s seen the same scene a thousand times before. The girl chuckles and moves away.

“Sorry, Scout, we’ll keep the PDA to a minimum.”

“What are we doing here, anyway? Why would Doc send us here?” complains the blonde, suppressing a yawn and looking around the woods. 

“No idea, but it must’ve been for something.” James replies and looks around before continuing. “Does anyone know where are we?” they all look at one another and shake their heads.

“Ok, let’s be intelligent here, people.” the brown-haired girl presses the button to her own device. “ECHO, are you there?” 

_“Miss Bianca, what can I do for you?”_ replies an androgynous voice.

“Can you tell me where we are?”

_“Of course: you are in the Yellowstone National Park, a kilometre to the east of the Polecat Creek.”_

“Yellowstone? What are we doing in Yellowstone?” asks Scout as he combs his hair away from his face.

“No idea, but we should move. We are too exposed here.” Advises Piper. They look around the clearing: the uprooted trees, the overturned earth; it’s pretty clear something’s happened here. 

“Good idea, Maiden. C’mon, people, move it! Let’s get as far away as we can!” James gestures to the trees and they all start marching west. 

“ECHO, where’s the closest source of water?” asks the blonde girl. 

_“There’s a spring at 476 meters to the south-west from your current position, Miss Thalia. If you desire to arrive there, I advice you to turn 36º to the left.”_ The whole group does as the AI says and keeps walking. 

“And where’s the closest camping grounds?” the blond boy asks this time. 

_“It’s at 1.77 kilometres from the springs. Do you wish for directions from your current position, Mr Nathaniel?”_  

“No, thanks, ECHO.” The blond groans. “2 kilometres! That’s so far away!” 

“You do realize that last year Mom took us on a survival camp and we walked ten times that distance, right?” remembers James and gets a glare from the older boy for his troubles. Scout huffs and is about to open his mouth when the AI’s voice sounds in their coms.

_“Ladies and gentlemen, there’s an aircraft approaching from the east, it seems to be heading your position.”_ They all freeze and instantly adopt a defence stand, forming a circle with all facing outside and the ones that have weapons, raise them. 

“How far away is it, ECHO?” asks Piper. 

_“200 meters. It appears it’s heading to your previous position.”_ They all blink, confuse and relax their stance slightly. _“I’ve analysed the aircraft, it belongs to Stark Enterprises.”_ At this, they all sigh in relief. 

“Oh, thank god! Let’s get out of here!” They all turn around and start running. 

“What do you bet that Doc messed up with the coordinates and sent us to the wrong place!” shouts Nathaniel, looking at James with a teasing smirk on his lips. The younger boy laughs. 

“He certainly needs to retire, he’s getting too old for this kind of things! He should just let Magica handle it!” the whole group laughs with him and they finally reach the site just as the aircraft is landing. They all stumble to a halt at the sight of the plane. 

“What the hell is that?!” screeches Piper. “ECHO, you said it was from Stark Enterprises!!!” 

_“And it is, Miss Piper.”_  

“It doesn’t look like one!” complains the girl again, prompting her friends to back away and crouch in the underbrush.

_“But it is, Miss Piper. It’s a 2018 model, the StarCraft 26.34 Delta.”_  

“2018?! But that would make it a twenty-year-old model! It shouldn’t be operational!”

They watch as the plane lands and they all tens up. The back gate of the ship lowers to the ground and the teens stop breathing when they see who gets out from it. Finally, James manages to swallow the lump in his throat and speak. 

“ECHO, what date is today?”

“November 22th, 2019” 

“Oh, _SHIT_!!!”


	2. Chapter 2

Feet pound against the grass, the sound of the aircraft growing distant. They're running, as far away from the ship as they can get. They are in a tactical: one up front, two in each side and one behind.

"Why are we running?!" Shouts Scout from his position in the lower left side, looking at James. The older boy turns from his position in front of the group and gives his friend an incredulous stare.

"What do you mean  _why are we running_?! We're not supposed to exist! None of us has been born yet!"

"I have!" retorts Nathaniel spot before Scout, and gets himself slapped across the back of the head by Piper, who is across from him in the upper right side.

"Yeah, but you're two years old, you idiot!"

"Will you stop whining?!" shouts Thalia from behind Piper and looks behind, only to see a human-looking shadow chasing them. "We've been compromised!"

"Manoeuvre 35, guys!" orders James and they all nod. Screeching to a halt, they all turn and make a circle around Piper, who yanks a metallic rod from the little compartment in her pants and plants it on the ground. Immediately, dozens of nanobots pour out of the top and form a dome over them. There's a ripple in the air and a second later, they're gone.

* * *

They stay still, barely breathing. Nathaniel swallows loudly and Bianca glares at him, raising a finger to her lips in the universal sign to  _stay quiet!_ Scout shuffles nervously and James reaches a hand to grasp his shoulder in silent support. A few seconds pass before a lone figure drops from the sky and makes Thalia jump in fright. Nathaniel quickly covers her mouth before a sound can escape and they wait with their hearts in their throats as the man gets up from his crouch, the metallic wings strapped to his back folding and disappearing from their sight.

"Falcon here, the targets have disappeared." He says, pressing a finger to his ear as he looks around. They watch as he nods to whomever is at the other end of the line. "Roger that." And promptly unfolds the wings again before taking off.

They stay frozen a few more seconds before slouching and sharing a nervous and relived laugh. Piper picks the rod from the floor and the air ripples again. The nanobots break formation and return to the metallic stick. Nathaniel falls to the floor and spreads his arms wide, chuckling.

"God, I almost puked! That was most likely the most stressful minute of my life!" exclaims the oldest and Bianca grimaces.

"That's disgusting, Nate…" utters the brunette, swiping a few strands of hair away from her face and trying to tuck them back into her braid.

"Well, I think we did pretty well," says the redhead, locking eyes with the blond boy and grinning. "Mom would be so proud of us!" Nathaniel grins back and he knows his friend is mentally patting himself on the back for the job well done.

"Oh, I'm sure she would," they all tense at the feminine and disturbingly familiar voice that comes from behind them. "That is, if you'd managed to shake us off."

James turns so fast he almost blurs out. There she is, and although the image is so similar, it is different enough to make him gasp. Fiery red hair, strikingly green eyes and the same teasing smirk she gives him when he gets frustrated when he does his homework wrong. Only that now she doesn't know him, doesn't know just whom she's smirking to, and it makes his heart pound against his chest.  _Mom…_

At the same time, Scout whimpers and lets his face fall onto his hands. He was supposed to keep his senses open so things like this wouldn't happen! Thalia just nudges him and when he looks up, she just points behind him, her eyes wide with wonder. He blinks and turns, only to come face to face with a woman in her twenties that looks like a carbon copy of his mother. Long, brown, wavy hair; light, grey eyes; high cheekbones and full lips. He sees her eyes turn red and something prodding at his brain before he inhales sharply and blocks her off. He quickly turns to his friends and raises his hands in the air. Blue tendrils come out from his fingertips and fly into his team's heads, blocking their thoughts and memories from the Scarlet Witch.

Both women gasp and the red tint disappears, leaving behind a cloud of confusion and awe. A new figure appears next to the redhead, a broad, blond man with piercing blue eyes and a confused frown marring his features. They hear a crunching sound from the other side of the little clearing they're in and Nathaniel is on his feet in a flash, raising his bow but not drawing it when he sees just who it is. A boy roughly their age, dressed in a red and blue spandex suit with a spider in his chest. The archer blinks before an amused smirk curls his lips upwards.

"Peter?" the boy starts, surprised to hear his name from a stranger when the identity of Spiderman hasn't been released yet. Ironman drops from the sky next to the spandex-clad teen and aims his left hand to Nathaniel's chest. Piper moves over his line of fire and raises her own hands. A second later, two of the six metallic rods open with a  _click_ and the nanobots come flying out, depositing themselves over her hands and arms and making gauntlets similar looking to Ironman's but instead of red it's blue and instead of yellow, white.

"I wouldn't do that, old man. Mine's are more powerful than yours." Taunts the girl, smirking over at the man and charging the beams at the palm of her hands, making them shine brighter.

"Piper!" hisses Nathaniel, and the girl huffs and lowers her hands.

"Ugh… you're no fun, Nate!" she puts her hands on her hips and glares at the boy.

"Oh, shoot him, be my guest, but I don't think lover boy here would appreciate it much if you  _puffed_ out of existence." Whispers the boy so the adults surrounding them don't hear them. Piper just rolls her eyes.

Meanwhile, Scout and Thalia are in a tense staring match with Wanda and Sam, who has returned and is standing next to the witch. Wanda and Scout's eyes keep flickering red and blue –respectively– and finally the girl gives up and groans.

"How are you doing that?! Why can't I see what's on your mind?!" complains Wanda, her accent thicker in her exhaustion. Scout only blinks, before turning to Thalia and grinning boyishly.

"I did it! I blocked her out!" the blonde girl chuckles and ruffles his hair, proud of the little brother of the group. From the corner of her eye she sees the man rise one arm and she's facing him instantly, pointing at him with her war hammer.

"Don't even think about it." She hisses at him. "Who are you, anyway?" she narrows her eyes. She doesn't recognize him, just  _who_  is he?

"Falcon." She huffs and rolls her eyes. She already  _knows_ that! She's about to retort when Scout tugs her arm.

"I think he's Sam, Thalia." Her eyes widen and she blinks at the man, who is in turn looking at Scout with a confused frown.

"You're Sam? As in Sam Wilson?" she lets her hammer fall with a  _thud_ to the ground and both teens just stare at the man like they're seeing a ghost.

At the same time, James and Bianca are in a very uncomfortable staring match with Black Widow and Captain America. The woman's look is making them both extremely nervous and James can't help but fiddle with his vambrace.

"James?"

"Yes, Bianca?"

"Stop." He stops and clears his throat instead. The man raises a brow and smirks, amused.

"You ok, kid?" he asks, and James meets his eyes, blue clashing against blue before he looks away when he sees a confused frown appear on the older man's face. "You look familiar, have we met before?" Bianca snorts and turns her face away, coughing to mask the sudden bout of laughter that tries to break free from her chest.

"He does, doesn't he?" muses Natasha, tilting her head to the side before gazing at the girl next. "You do too; in fact, you all do." She adds, looking over the whole group of teens and narrowing her eyes in concentration. Where has she seen them before?

Thalia swallows forcefully and finally manages to stop staring at the man when he frowns at them. She opens her mouth to apologise, but a voice fills her head and makes her gasp so loud everyone turns to her.

 _Princess Thalia. Your father is on his way to you._ She knows that voice.

"Heimdall?" she whispers, confused. Wanda gives her a surprised look but she ignores it, tipping her head back and gazing up at the sky.

 _Yes, Princess. I would step aside if I were you._ The man's voice has an amused tone to it and she promptly finds out why. Her eyes widen comically when she sees the sparkle in the sky and immediately grabs Scout and yanks him away.

"Move back!" she shouts and the teens, knowing what's coming, jump aside and huddle close, closing their eyes against the bright light. Tony practically has to yank Peter away and turn him to keep him from getting blinded, Sam unfolds his wings and moves them so they're covering both his and Wanda's heads and Steve does the same with his Wakandan shield and Natasha.

"Thalia, what's happening?!" Shouts Nathaniel over the howling of the wind.

"Heimdall! He blew our cover!" the blonde shouts back.

Once the dust settles, they all peek from behind their covers. Thor stands alone in the middle of a runic circle, Stormbreaker clutched tightly in his left hand and his eyes scanning his surroundings wildly. He locks eyes with Tony first and immediately marches over to him, grasping his breastplate and yanking him up to his face.

"Where is she?!" he shouts at the man's face. Tony, obviously irritates, pushes the god away and brushes some dust away from his suit.

"Where is who?"

"My daughter!" all the adults freeze and look at him like he's grown a second head.

"You have a daughter?! Since when?" asks Steve, an incredulous look on his face.

"Oh, God…" Steve turns to Natasha and gives her a questioning looks. "The kids, Steve! That's why they looked so familiar! The blonde girl, she looked just like Thor!" all the adults turn simultaneously to the group of teens, who are watching them with sheepish smiles on their lips. There's a tense minute of silence before Nathaniel opens his mouth.

"Well… I guess the cat's out of the bag." The whole group just groan and facepalms before James has the honours of slapping the oldest across the back of his head.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, lovers? I forgot to tell you before, so I'm telling you now: this little fic is set after Infinity Wars II (no, it hasn't been released yet, but I'm hopping everybody is alive by the end of the movie).

"Ok, so let me get this straight," says Tony after the awkward silence that follows the teens' explanation of who they are. They have returned to the jet and the plane is flying back to the facility on autopilot; they are flying on stealth mode, so the trip will lightly take a couple of hours.

He turns to Piper, pointing with his finger. "You're my daughter." She nods. "And you're eighteen." She raises a brow and grins.

"Yes, I am, I was born on 2021." She crosses her arms over her chest and tilts her head to the left. The grin never leaves her lips and Tony shudders at the disturbingly familiar sight.

"Yeah, I don't think I need to ask who your mother is…" he mutters, before turning to Nathaniel. "And you're Baby Barton?" the blond chuckles and nods.

"God you haven't called me that since I was thirteen."

"How old are you again?" asks Thor this time, breaking out of his stupor.

"Twenty-four." Tony raises his Stark-phone and snaps a picture of the boy.

"I'm sending this to Barton, thirty bucks that he has a heart attack." Sam snatches the devise from his hand and glares at the billionaire. Tony huffs and rolls his eyes before turning to the next teen, Scout. "So you're a Maximoff." The boy nods with a big grin on his lips. "Who's Daddy again?"

"Viktor." Tony blinks. Wanda gasps, and the billionaire turns to her.

"Who's Viktor?" Wanda blinks at him, shock clear on her face.

"Vision. That's the name we chose for him: Viktor." She turns to the teen, seeing physical similarities with Vision now that she's looking for them. "But, how is that possible?" Scout grimaces.

"I'm not really that interested in how I came to be, Mom." He shudders and Thalia chuckles next to him, drawing the attention of the unofficial clarifier of the Avengers.

"And you're Thor's daughter." The blonde turns to him and nods, tapping her war hammer against her shoulder. "And you said you're… seventeen?"

"Sixteen." Thalia corrects.

"And your mother is…?" at the question, her eyes harden and the tapping stops. Her whole body is tens as she looks at Thor through the corner of her eye.

"Dad never told me…" Thor frowns, confused. However, Sam is the one to ask the question.

"What do you mean, he never told you?"

"Uncle Thor just appeared one day with a newborn Thalia, and you all made us leave the room, so we don't know anything." Explains James, before turning to Thor. "I was three. I remember that I was drawing something in the main area of the house, and suddenly you appeared running with a bundled blanket in your arms, Shouting for Mom or Dad or Auntie Pepper or  _anybody_. Next thing I knew, I was sent to my room and later, during dinner, you all told us that we had a new addition to the family." He looks at Sam from the corner of his eye for a second before looking away.  _And that we'd lost one too._

Thankfully, no one notices the way all teens look at Falcon discreetly, as if seeing him for the first time. Tony breaks the tense silence by turning to the remaining male and next in his list of clarifications: James.

"Well, I think it is pretty clear whose kid you are, with that hair and those eyes…"

"It's not possible." The quiet but powerful voice cuts through the air like a knife and everybody turns to the owner. Natasha Romanov. James swallows and shrinks under her glare, she's looking at him as if he killed a whole litter of puppies. "You're lying."

"What do you mean it's not possible? He's the carbon copy of Capsicle but with your hair! He even–" his protests is cut short when the woman directs her irate eyes at him. She's seething.

"It's not possible, Stark! I can't get pregnant, ok?!" Steve slides closer to her, knowing it's a sore topic, even more now that Thanos has been defeated and the Sokovia Accords abolished. They could have a family now, only that they  _can't_.

"You sure about that, Auntie Nat? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you're pregnant right now." The read-head turns to Piper, who quivers a little under her piercing gaze. She hurries to explain. "James was –or will be– born in June 2020, that's seven months away. So, unless you lied to us and he was created and incubated in a lab, you're two months pregnant." The woman stays silent, looking at the girl before returning her eyes to the boy in question. He gives her the same smile Steve gives her when he's feeling shy or embarrassed. Could it be?  _No, it can't. The procedure was efficient, I can't get pregnant._

"You  _have_  been feeling a bit queasy lately, Nat." mutters Steve form her side and she looks up at him, the insecurities he'd seen when she'd told him she'd never be able to give him a family shining in her eyes. "And you  _did_  complain that your period was late." There's hope shining in his eyes now, that tinny, shy smile forming on his lips. "Don't you think…?"

There's a minute of silence as the couple stare at each other until Scout moves from his seat at the other end of the plane and approaches them. "I could check, if you want." All the adults look at the boy, confusion clouding their features.

"You can?"

"Yes! Mom taught me last year. We usually use it to see if somebody is injured, but it works with this too! That way we can see if the baby is healthy." Explains the teen, moving a little closer so he's just a few feet form them.

"Have you done this before?" Asks Steve. Scout snorts.

"Of course I have, I do it to Mom all the time!" he takes another step and raises his hands slightly before looking at Natasha with big, blue eyes. "Can I, Auntie Nat?" she swallows, and the sudden but comforting warmth of Steve's hand on her lower back relaxes her enough to nod her permission.

The boy grins, elated, and promptly kneels at Natasha's feet and puts his hands a few centimetres away from her flat stomach. He closes his eyes as his hands begin to produce the blue wisps. They move form his fingers to curl over the woman's abdomen, swirling around and around. Scout frowns and moves his fingers a little. He gasps and opens his eyes.

"Found him!" his eyes are glowing a deep blue and a silly grin forms in his lips. "He's so tinny…" the blue tendrils disappear and his eyes return to normal.

He looks up at the couple, his eyes glowing with child-like wonder. He turns and spreads his arms wide, moving and curling his fingers. Thousands of little blue wisps fly form his fingertips and curl and twirl in a mass in the centre of the cramped space. They begin to form a C-like body from a side view, a big, irregular head with two black dots and slightly transparent, a palpitating mass at the centre of the minuscule body and four leg and arm-like stumps. There's a cord that leads from inferior part of the body and dissolves at the edge of the image. They watch in amazement as it shifts slightly and then the image falls and Scout drops his hands to his knees, panting from exertion.

The whole group breaks out of their stupor and Steve is the first one that regains power over his voice.

"Oh, God, you're pregnant…"

* * *

Through the floor to ceiling glass windows form the Avengers Facility, James sits and watches as his parents talk in the relative privacy of the yard. They're so close, their foreheads touching and his father's hand over his mother's stomach. He can see twinkles in their cheeks; they're crying. He wants to be there with them. And technically he is, but he feels miles away. He can hear his team bonding with their parents; Piper showing Tony how to operate the nanobots he himself will create in a few years, Scout teaching Wanda a few tricks she herself will teach him when he comes, Thalia gushing to Thor about Syldor –her war hammer– and how awesome it is and then both laughing when the weapon doesn't find Sam or Nathaniel worthy. This is the first time they've seen their parents in almost two months and he feels jealous of his friends and guilty for that jealousy.

He feels Bianca step to his back. Her hands –always covered by her tactical gloves– fall over him, the right onto his head to pillow her chin and the left on his shoulder to balance herself. He sighs and grabs her left hand, feeling the cold seep from beneath the glove.

"We never got to finish explaining…" mutters James, tightening his grip on her fingers.

"It's not that important, James. It's not like I'm their real–"

"If you finish that sentence I swear to God, Bianca, I  _will_ gut you." She stays quiet for a few seconds before shaking his grip off and seating herself next to him, to his left. He can see her right hand fiddling with the other one and he snatches it away, bringing it to his lap. He twines their fingers and he can feel his warmth seep into the glove. "We've talked about this, B; Mom and Dad have talked this over with you too. Just because you weren't born from Mom doesn't mean you're not their daughter. The papers are legal, and more importantly, the feelings are real."

They observe as Steve kneels and raises Natasha's shirt, exposing her abdomen to the evening air. He presses kisses over the still flat skin and murmurs to the baby,  _James_ , and she just sinks her fingers on his hair and laughs, tears still falling to the grass from both. Finally, Bianca shifts and scratches her collarbone. James sees it from the corner of his eye and get's up, tugging Bianca with him.

"C'mon, let's fix that before it get's worst." As he leads her to the elevator, he catches Piper's gaze and she nods at him, sending him a sympathetic smile as they disappear down the corridor.

* * *

"I thought you two were dating." Tony's voice snaps Piper from her musing and she turns, seeing her father glare with suspicion at the corridor.

"We are." She answers simply, deactivating the bots that are creating a sword and making them return to the rod.

"So why is he leaving with her? What was her name again?"

"Bianca, her name's Bianca." She tries to keep her tone mild; her father's fake nonchalant attitude towards Bianca is rubbing her the wrong way.

_No one messes with my BF and get's away with it, even if it's Dad._

"Well, they looked pretty chummy to me…" she can hear the protective tone in his voice, and although she appreciates it, it's unnecessary.

"Dad…" she's about to set him straight, telling him what they hadn't let them finish in the plane, when Steve and Natasha step inside. They look around, and a frown appears on Natasha's face.

"Where's James?"

"He went to one of the rooms we set up for them. He's with the quiet girl." Answers Tony, only to get a glare from his daughter.

"I just told you her name." she then turns and looks at the couple. "I don't think they'll be in a room. Bianca got hurt yesterday and we still haven't had time to look at it, so they're probably in a lab." She's about to continue, but they're already walking down the hall. She sighs and shrugs. "Oh, well, they'll find out eventually."

"Find out about what?" asks Wanda, walking towards them with her arm thrown over her son's shoulders.

"Bianca, Mom. She's their daughter too." Says the boy, and all the adults in the room gasp. Sam –who's been with Nathaniel until they get a hold of the Barton's– and Thor approach to hear this new information, the teens following close behind.

"How com you didn't tell us this before?" asks Thor.

"You interrupted us when we were about to." Responds Thalia, letting her hammer rest on the floor and using it to support her body.

"She doesn't look like them." Piper huffs at her father.

"I thought adoption was already a thing in 2019. She doesn't have to be flesh and blood to be family, Dad. I thought you'd know that by now." She gestures around them and the billionaire genius has the good grace to look sheepish.

* * *

Steve and Natasha walk hand in hand to the elevator. His thumb weeps over her knuckles every few seconds and his eyes lower to her stomach every few seconds. She has her free hand over it, and Steve has to stretch over her to get the button because she refuses to take it off it.

"I'm pregnant…" a silly smile spreads Steve's lips at her soft words. She looks up at him and his eyes water again at the sight of her face. "I can't believe I'm pregnant, Steve. It shouldn't be possible, that graduation ceremony was efficient, I should be unable to conceive." The elevator doors open and they step inside, turning to face one another.

"FRIDAY, where's James?"

_"He's in the Laboratory 3, sir."_

"Take us there, please." The elevator starts and Steve turns to Natasha again. "They clearly messed up, Nat. That boy is proof of that. And Wanda's kid, Scout, showed us too." He moves her hand slightly to the side so he can put his much larger one over her stomach too. "Six weeks," he chuckles and shakes his head. "I think I know the night it happened." Natasha smirks.

"Kitchen in Tony's penthouse?"

"Kitchen in Tony's penthouse." He nods and both laugh.

The elevator  _dings_ and the doors open. They step outside and look around the room, the glass walls five them a clear visual of the entire floor and they soon find the teens. What they see chills them to the bone.

Both teens are seated on a table, Bianca in the table itself facing away from them and James on a chair. The girl is naked from the waist up except of a black bra. They can see the expanse of her back, all the marred, scarred flesh. Two wide, deep cuts that go from each shoulder to each hip, crossing in the middle to form an X and they can see the endings disappear over the curve of her shoulder and hips into her tactical pants. But that's not what shakes them most. It's the fact that she's missing an arm, and that the redhead boy has it laid on the table in front of him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There'll be Russian, so if you wanna have the translations as you read clic to More Notes.

As soon as they step foot into the lab, James urges Bianca to take off the armour and upper clothes. She does so with a huff, a bit irritated by how bossy he's being.

"Relax, will ya? It's nothing serious." She complains as she lowers the zipper and unbuckles the armour, letting it fall to the tiled floor with a soft  _thud_. Then she takes her gloves, revealing a pale, rosy hand and a silver one. The metallic fingers spasm and she hisses. "Ok, I think I pulled something." She tries to raise her hands to take off her long sleeved shirt, but the fingers spasm again and a whimper escapes this time. "You're gonna have to help me, James."

"'Relax' she says, 'nothing serious' she says..." mutters the redhead as he steps closer and takes the shirt off for her, revealing her toned stomach and a black, simple bra. He can see the edges of the X scar peek form her back and into her sides, but he's seen her so many times already that the sight doesn't even faze him anymore. It used to bother him, seeing the permanent mark her rising had left, but now he's just grateful; because the other option was death and that wasn't an acceptable one.

Bianca hisses again when he tugs the sleeve over the wrist and he apologizes, taking greater care in disentangling her unresponsive fingers from the fabric. As soon as her whole arm is revealed and he scans it, he can see the problem. There's a broken screw that is pinching a couple of nerve-cables a few centimetres above her elbow. He makes her sit on the table to examine it closely.

"Ok, I can see the problem. It's not that difficult to fix. You don't think Uncle Tony has a 2-35 vibranium screw lying around, do you?" she chuckles and shakes her head, looking around the room to see if she spots something that can play stand-in until they get back home and replace it.

"No, but I'm sure there's something similar we can use, it doesn't have to be vibranium." James looks too before making a little sound. He starts digging around in his pockets until he utters a victorious  _Aha!_ And holds up the screw in question triumphantly. Bianca raises a brow at him and he ruffles his hair nervously.

"I was planning on changing the screw on the vambrace, and it's the same model, so we can use it on you instead."

He puts it on the table and turns back to her. He grabs her spasming silver hand and squeezes, not sure if she can feel it but needing to give her the support. He puts his other hand near her armpit, gripping tightly and when she gives him an affirmative nod, he presses over both joints, twists and pulls. Bianca cries out in pain as the arm comes free from the socket. He lays it down on the table and puts his hand over her thigh. She grips it with her right hand and gives him a strained smile.

"It's been nine years, you would've thought I'd be used to it by now..." James shakes his head and pats her leg.

"You are connecting and disconnecting nerves, there's no way to get used to something like that." She releases a shaky sigh and lets go of him so he can fix her arm. He looks over it before locating the troublesome screw again. "You have your kit, right?" She chuckles and digs into one of the pant pockets, producing a little box and handing it over to the boy.

" 'Never leave the house without it, моя маленькая львица*, you never know when you might need it.' " Mimics Bianca, changing slightly the pitch of her voice to make it huskier and James laughs, taking the box and sitting on a chair to start with the repairs.

"God, you sound just like Mom." He breathes as he uses a laser cutter to break the crushed screw and release the nerve cables. He sets the cutter aside and takes the pieces away, leaving them on the side. Next he puts the screw on its place, twines the cables around it and rolls it tight.

"What do you think they'll think when we tell them?" asks the girl, her eyes locked on how her big brother fixes her arm as he's done so many times before. There's an almost silent  _ding_ in the background, but both are too distracted to hear it.

"I don't know, how would you react to being told that you're pregnant when you weren't supposed to be able to and then meeting the baby when he's already nineteen years old and that, on top of it, you adopted a girl that is the love child of the Red Room and the Winter Soldier programs?" she snorts and looks at him fondly, permitting herself the childish act of swinging her legs when he grins at her.

"Love child? Really, James?" she rolls her eyes and chuckles. "Like those psychos were capable of love, anyway." She ruffles his hair and he bats her hand away, giggling.

"Ok, all fixed! Let's get this bad boy running again." He jumps from his seat and picks the arm up and is about to put it into position when he sees a familiar flash of gold and red. He looks up and freezes; there, just outside the elevator, are their parents. Steve is looking at them both with a shocked look on his face, but Natasha's eyes are glued to Bianca's back, wide with horror.

"James? What are you–?" she turns her head, and the smile she has on her lips disappears instantly. She gasps and she's hiding behind James in a second, pressing her back to his as if it would erase the image from her parents minds.

The movement seems to break the redhead from her stupor and she runs to them. She grabs the boy's hand and yanks him away to see his sister. She keeps them both controlled, one hand around James' arm and the other gripping Bianca's hand. Steve approaches slower, letting Natasha take it out of her chest in her own way but being close enough in case she overwhelms them.

She tugs the girl closer, turning her around to both siblings are side by side. She gazes at the girl, long, brown hair tied in a messy braid and deep, black eyes, like a moonless and starless night. Plain, but beautiful, gorgeous in their own way. She's her same height, strong built and obviously uncomfortable with being shirtless in front of her parents. She ignores it for the time being and turns to the boy.

Tony was right, he really is Steve's carbon copy; endless blue eyes, high cheekbones, straight nose and wild hair. The only difference is the color; it's red, the same deep, blood red she had when she was his age. He's taller than her, slightly shorter than Steve but he's still growing, he'll probably reach him in the next couple of years.

She feels Steve step closer and touch her lower back.

"Nat, you're making them uncomfortable." She releases the teens and steps back against his chest, letting his warmth envelop her and calm her down. They watch silently as James shakes his jacket off drapes it over Bianca's shoulders. She grips the edges with her hands and looks down at the floor. They weren't supposed to see, they weren't supposed to  _know_. Not like this.

"I assume you heard all we said?" whispers Bianca and Steve hates the cautiousness in her tone. Natasha ignores the question.

"You never told us your name…" the girl looks at her and Natasha can see herself at her age almost twenty years ago when Clint found her. There's something in her eyes; a wisdom, a hard glint that shows her that this  _child_ has gone through too much.

"Bianca."

" _Bianca_ … I always loved that name." Murmurs Natasha and the girl gives her a little smile, a little more comfortable and relaxed.

"I know, you named me." Steve smiles. They had talked about it, if they could've gotten pregnant, the boy would've been called James and the girl Bianca. Looks like they followed through it.

Natasha nods and extends her arms to the teens. They both fall into her embrace immediately, Bianca curling her arm around Natasha's waist and hiding her face against her shoulder, while James envelops both in his arms and buries his face in his mother's hair. Steve watches as they settle and then he moves, circling around them until he's facing Natasha and hugs them all, keeping their children caged between them.

When she looks up, she gifts him one of her crooked smiles and he kisses her forehead, dropping another one over James' head and finally one on Bianca's. He breathes in and rests his head on James'.  _God, this feels nice._

* * *

Once they disentangle themselves, James set's about attaching Bianca's arm to her body again. Steve and Natasha step aside and watch as the girl sits back onto the table and drops the side of the jacket that's covering her left shoulder. The prosthetic attachment is similar to Bucky's; you can see the scarred tissue at the edge of the metal and the attachment that imitates the shoulder socket. They see as she takes a deep breath and tenses her body. Steve frowns and tightens his hold around Natasha's waist.

"Does it hurt?" he asks, and James pauses to look back at him.

"Yes, of course. You are connecting and disconnecting new nerves to the system, the body has to test them. Pain seems to be the only way to do it. Uncle Bucky has one too, you've never seen how they set it?" he gives them a confused look and Natasha blinks.

"I thought Bucky's was permanent…" she whispers and both teens frown and then look at each other before Bianca gasps.

"He broke it, remember? Uncle Tony still jokes about it. Something about Dodger?" and then something clicks in James head and he starts laughing, doubling over and almost dropping the metallic arm.

"Oh, God, I forgot about that! Uncle Bucky fell asleep on the floor and Dodger pissed on it! It was hilarious!" they both start laughing and the sound has their parents smiling.

"Who's Dodger?"

"Our dog. He's the cutest! We'll show you a picture later, I'm sure Piper has some." James picks up the arm again. "C'mon, let's get this over with." Bianca inhales deeply before letting it all out slowly.

"Ok, I'm ready." She nods to her brother but before he can move Steve steps forward and offers her a hand. She smiles and takes it gratefully. Natasha moves around Steve and sits herself next to her daughter. James get's the arm in position and locks eyes with her.

"Ready? One… two… three!" he sets it in and twists it into place. Bianca cries out and tears gather in her eyes; she grips her father's hand tightly and her mother holds her steady, soothing her with quiet whispers in Russian.

"Спасибо, мамa**" murmurs the girl and Natasha feels warmth fill her chest before she drops a kiss on her daughter's hair. James moves her arm, bending the joints until Bianca starts to do it on her own. Her head bobs and she rests it against her mother's. The redhead sees his father frown, confused and worried by the sudden sleepiness that grips the girl.

"Don't worry, Dad, it's normal. Making the connection always takes a lot on the body. She just needs an hour to sleep it off and she'll be back." When they turn to the girls again, Bianca is already asleep on Natasha's shoulder. She looks up at them and smiles.

"We should get her into bed." Steve nods and steps forward, taking the girl into his arms. Natasha jumps from the table and takes her son's hands, relishing in the smile he gives her.

"Do you already live in the north-west wing?" asks the boy, looking between his parents. Steve nods as he leads the way to the elevator. They get inside and Natasha presses her free hand to the scanner.

 _"_ _Agent Romanov, were do you wish to go?"_ asks FRIDAY as the scanner light up with the restricted places Natasha has access to. She looks at it for a second.

"Home, FRIDAY."

 _"_ _Right away, miss."_ And the elevator starts, going one floor up and then changing to the side. The woman sighs and lets go of James' hand to finally take her gloves off. She then takes it back, lacing their fingers, and looks up at Steve with a warm smile. While his parents silently communicate –something that he's used to but frustrates him to no end–, the boy looks down at his mother's hand, the one that's twined with his, only to frown.

"You're not wearing your ring…" they both turn at him, confused. They've heard him talk, but haven't listened to what he's said. "You told me you'd been married for over a year before I was born, but you don't have your ring." Natasha smiles then, and lowers the zipper of her tactical gear a little until she can squeeze her fingers inside and take out the chain with his father's dog tags. She moves them in her palm and then he can see the ring hidden between them.

"Nobody knows we're married yet, so we can't wear them around the facility; or ever, for that matter." She chuckles sadly and fiddles with it before tucking the tags inside and raising the zipper back up.

"We were planning on telling everybody next week, when the Bartons were supposed to come and everyone was here, but I think it's gonna happen sooner that we thought." Says Steve, chuckling in amusement. James looked at him. "They're coming to meet Nathaniel, well, your Nathaniel." James' eyes almost bug out.

"Will they bring baby Nate?" Natasha chuckles and nods.

The elevator  _dings_ and the doors open. They walk in and James relishes in the fact that the living room is the same he remembers form his early childhood days. The leather couch Dodger destroyed when he was eleven, the white coffee table that they had to paint when he dropped grey paint on it when he was seven, the potted plants, the bookshelves, the dinning table, the terrace already styled to look like a regular lawn. He looks around, searching for the family photos before remembering they aren't here yet. Oh, well, they'll come around soon enough.

"Ten bucks that Nate will say something cheesy like 'Look! I'm holding myself!' " They laugh at his imitation of his BF and Steve leads the way to their room. He lays his daughter on the bed and Natasha sits next to her, skimming her fingers over Bianca's metal arm. She looks up at James; there's something in her eyes.

"How did she loose it?" he takes a deep breath and motions them out. They walk in silence down the hall and he sits on the coffee table, gesturing for his parents to sit on the couch. They do and he smiles when they link their hands, lacing their fingers together.

"I don't know if you heard me before, when I said that Bianca was the love child of the Red Room and the Winter Soldier programs…" they nod, both their eyes going hard. "She was part of a new elite of soldiers, the K Soldiers. It was the latest and last program from HYDRA." He pauses enough to look first at his mother's, and then at his father's eyes. "That K stands for two things: for killer and for kid. The soldiers from that elite, instead of being recruited when they were children like with the Red Room, they were recruited from the womb." Steve inhales sharply and Natasha tightens her hands into fists, squeezing her husband's hand until he returns the pressure. "They kidnapped pregnant women and kept them until the child was born. During gestation, they injected a watered down version of the super soldier serum into the amniotic liquid, that way they guaranteed that the baby would be healthy and ready for training as soon as possible."

He pauses to let them absorb the information and gather his thoughts. He feels like he's fifteen again, listening to Bianca tell him what she'd gone through in the K Compound after one of her tough nightmares and their parents were gone for a mission.

"Bianca was the strongest of her platoon and she was soon set aside to perform on her own. By the time she was seven, she'd made her twentieth kill." This time the one that makes a sound is his mother and he sees his father close his eyes in despair. Such a young child… "That's when she got into SHIELD's radar. Of course, nobody knew the assassin was a child."

"Wait, James." He looks at his mother, confused. "She said I named her. How is that possible if she was over seven years old?"

"She didn't have a name until she met you. She was just a serial number: KS-247." She breathes in shakily and nods, giving him the cue to continue.

"They sent a STRIKE team to take her out. Needless to say, none of them returned. That's when Grandpa Nick took the threat seriously and send you two after her." Steve raises a brow at the 'grandpa', but decides to keep it to himself. "A month and a half later, you returned with a dirty, malnourished ten-year-old child and told me that she would be staying with us for a while."

He smiles sadly at the memory.

* * *

 _He was playing with Uncle Tony's latest drone when he heard the sound of the elevator arrive and the familiar_ ding _echo into the living room. He ran from the terrace ready to smother his parents in hugs and kisses until he saw the dirt covered lump cuddled in his father's arms. His mother urged him closer and they both kneeled on the ground, Natasha enveloping him in her arms from behind and Steve shifting the lump until he could see a dirty face and black eyes. A girl that looked like a three-year-old but in reality wasn't much younger than him, with sleepy eyes and a thumb inside her mouth as if she were a baby._

 _"_ _James, this is Bianca. She's going to stay with us for a while, ok?" he nodded, not taking his eyes from the little girl. She just sucked on her thumb and pressed closer to his father, away from him. Her eyes where alert now. Natasha took notice of it and extended her arm to run a hand through the unevenly cut brown hair. "_ _Бьянка_ _,_ _милая_ _,_ _все_   _в_   _порядке_ _._ _Это_   _Джеймс_ _,_ _мы_   _рассказали_   _тебе_   _про_   _Джеймса_ _,_ _помнишь_ _?_ _Он_   _не_   _повредит_   _тебе_ _,_ _девочка_ _._ _ты_   _здесь_   _в_   _безопасности_ _,_ _хорошо_ _?_ _мы_   _защитим_   _вас_ _.***_ _"_

_James blinked, so the girl was Russian. He mentally flipped the switch in his head to pass from English to Russian._

_He caught her eyes and smiled at her, his nose crinkling just like his father's. "_ _Привет_ _,_ _я_   _Джеймс_ _!_ _Приятно_   _познакомиться_ _!****" He raised a hand to shake hers and Bianca tensed, going completely stiff in his father's careful hold and his mother was quick to press a hand over his arm to lower it. He frowned, confused, and looked up at his mother._

_"_ _Why doesn't she want to be my friend?" she smiled sadly._

_"_ _She's just scared, sweetie. Give her some time, ok? She'll come around." She kisses him on the cheek and ruffles his hair before getting up and taking the girl into her arms. "Don't worry, ok? She's really tired and had a really tough day. I'll put her in bed and then you can tell us what you've been up to while we were away." She pats him in the back and walks away, down the hall and into a guest room. He's pretty sure it won't be for guests for much longer._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *- моя маленькая львица"moya malen'kaya l'vitsa" - my little lioness.
> 
> **- Спасибо, мамa "Spasibo, mama" - thank you, Mom.
> 
> ***- Бьянка, милая, все в порядке. Это Джеймс, мы рассказали тебе про Джеймса, помнишь? Он не повредит тебе, девочка. ты здесь в безопасности, хорошо? мы защитим вас "B'yanka, milaya, vse v poryadke. Eto Dzheyms, my rasskazali tebe pro Dzheymsa, pomnish'? On ne povredit tebe, devochka. ty zdes' v bezopasnosti, khorosho? my zashchitim vas" - Bianca, sweetie, it's ok. This is James, we told you about James, remember? He won't hurt you, baby girl. You're safe here, ok? We'll protect you.
> 
> ****- Привет, я Джеймс! Приятно познакомиться! "Privet, ya Dzheyms! Priyatno poznakomit'sya!" - Hi, I'm James! Nice to meet you!
> 
> So… what do you think?
> 
> PS!- I won't be able to work on Back in Time –or anything for that matter– in the next week. I'm going to an end of course trip and I won't be taking the computer with me. Please don't ask me to hurry or when I'll update, it'll just make me antsy and I'll want to write but I won't be able to. Really frustrating, I don't recommend it. I just wanna focus on the trip and if you wanna see the photos of what I'll visit, I'll upload them on my Tumblr account, starting on Wednesday, maybe Tuesday. Let's see who guesses where I am first and I'll reward them with a surprise (probably a private sneak peek on the next chapter or making a scene of your choosing)! XD


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Lovers! I am so, so sorry for making you wait so long. I broke the screen of my computer and I just found a way to work around it and I've been busting my ass this last two days to compensate. I hope you like it. Well, love it would be better but I settle for like ;).
> 
> Also: more Russian!

"She was really closed off at first. She would glue herself to one of you and just glare to everybody. You told me she was just two years younger than me, but she looked so small, so much like a baby. She didn't talk, didn't smile, didn't laugh; she just stared at everybody and clung to you." Continues James, smiling sadly at his clasped hands. "I'm not proud of how I behaved towards her that first week. She took all your attention, all your smiles, the songs and the cuddles. Or, at least, that's how I saw it. It wasn't until you," he looks up at his father. " Sat me down and explained to me the whole story that I understood. She  _needed_  your whole attention, and she needed mine too. She was seven years old and had never been hugged until you did it, had never been gifted a sincere smile. She needed our help, for us to make up for all that she'd never known was her birth right. Love, affection, education; a real bed,  _food_." He breathes in deep and exhales slowly. "After that, I started behaving like I should've done from the beginning: I helped you guys in everything I could. I read to her, showed her my favourite toys and of course let her play with them, I hugged her as much as I could when she got used to me and introduced her to the awesomeness of children movies. She gained weight and even grew a few inches in a couple of months, but she still wouldn't speak or smile. You were getting desperate by that point to at least get a word out of her or a tinny grin. It wasn't that she couldn't understand the language, you'd taught her how to read and write in both English and Russian, but she wouldn't utter a word. There was nothing wrong with her vocal cords, FRIDAY had checked. You had almost given up on getting her to talk, to smile, until one day six months from her arrival..."

* * *

_It was a day like any other, Natasha and Steve were in the main building in a meeting with the rest of the Avengers, James was finishing his homework in his room and Bianca was sleeping in hers across from his. No Avenger knew Bianca yet, and most of them were uncomfortable knowing he was alone with a girl that had been trained to kill since she was a baby, but they just ignored them. She wouldn't hurt James, and his parents knew that. Maybe before, but not now._

_It hadn't been five minutes since he finished the last math exercise that Bianca entered his room, tousled hair, sleepy eyes and her favourite book in her still too tinny hands. Bruce had said that in a year or two, with the proper care, she would grow to the average height, but that she would never reach the height she was supposed to be once she passed puberty. Everything had its consequences, and the malnutrition had fucked up permanently with her growth._

_James smiled at her, already used to this little ritual they had: he'd do his homework while she napped and when he was finished she'd appear with a book in hand for him to read. His parents hadn't noticed yet, but he was sure it wouldn't take much longer. They weren't hiding it; it was just that they were always occupied during their little reading sessions._

_She offered the book to him, he took it with a chuckle –he could recite it by heart by then– and jumped to his bed, arranging the pillows to make a little nest. He settled in it and was surprised when Bianca crawled to the little space he always left for her in case she wanted it. She'd never accepted it until then and he smiled, happy that she wanted to be closer to him._

_He opened the book and started reading and when there was an illustration he pointed at little details he found amusing before continuing. He relished in the way she gripped his arm with her toddler-sized fingers and pointed at the words she didn't understand or the way she pouted at him when he made something up and then pinched him in reprimand. She became so tactile after the third month and she would let her actions speak for her. It frustrated his parents to no end._

_There are only a couple of pages left when they hear the almost muffled_ ding _from the elevator and they both look up at the closed door. Bianca still had set backs, and for some reason doors left open for relatively long periods of time were one of the triggers. He doesn't know why, and he certainly doesn't want to. They heard his father call for them and James turned to the girl, a giddy grin on his face as he raised a finger to his lips._

 _"_ _Shh." He chuckled, his eyes crinkling in his merriment. She blinked at him and then_ smiled!  _He gasped, surprised by the way the mischievous grin lit up her tinny face. He giggled, exited, and jumped to his feet, picked her up and held her up in the air. He was so much bigger than her, he was nine and she had the body of a four-year-old. "Smile again, Bianca!" he giggled again, an inexplicable happiness filling his chest when she did. "YES!" he brought her down and cuddled her closed to his chest. He stepped down from his bed and ran –carefully– to the door, yanking it open and shouting for his parents. They came running, their worried expressions dissipating at the sight of their son cradling their little 'guest' close to his chest and clearly unharmed. "She_ smiled! _" he laughed, squeezing the girl happily before leaning back to see her face. "C'mon, Bianca! Smile for Mommy and Daddy!" he manoeuvred her so they could see the wide grin form on the girl's lips._

_Needless to say, there were a lot of kissing and hugging that day._

* * *

 

"From that day forward, Bianca made progress after progress:" Resumes James after a short pause to let his parents digest the information. " She started sleeping through the night, ate more, played more and with more enthusiasm… she  _laughed!_ " he smiles at his parents and then lowers his eyes again. "But she  _still_  wouldn't talk."

"When did she start?" asks Natasha, her hand making random figures over Steve's thigh. James sighs shakily, but there's a bittersweet smile on his lips.

"An exact year from the day you brought her home."

* * *

 

_They had celebrated the day –just the four of them– as if it were a birthday. They even made a cake with a candle for her to blow. They played together, gifted her new clothes and James made her a row of five origami elephants, her favourite animal. They weren't perfect, the edges were crooked and one of them didn't have a tail, but Bianca loved them and almost crushed James in her embrace. She almost looked her age, then; a few more months and she would be the seven-year-old girl she was supposed to be._

_And to finalize the day, they all cuddled in the couch –with Steve in the middle, Bianca seated in his lap and Natasha and James at each side with his arms over their shoulders– and watched Bianca's favourite movies: 'Dumbo' –_ obviously _–, 'The Iron Giant' and 'Honey, I Shrunk The Kids'*. By the time the credits of the last movie rolled, both Steve and Bianca were asleep and James almost nodding off. Natasha picked him up and even though he was too big to be carried in such way, the boy clung to his mother like a baby and let himself he carried to bed. She laid him down gently, tucked him in and pressed a lingering kiss on his forehead._

 _"_ Сладкие сны, мой маленький лев _**" she whispered, pressing one last kiss to his brow before standing up and walking to the door._

 _"_ Мама? _" she turns, one eyebrow raised but her eyes were tender. "_ Я люблю тебя _***." She smiles at his whispered words._

 _"_ _I love you too, baby."_

_James fell asleep and was in the middle of a dream where he was slaying a chocolate dragon with a caramel hose when a scream tore through it, waking him up with a start._

_"_ ПАПА! МАМА! _****" Followed by a heartbreaking sob and then another shout. "Mommy! Daddy!"_

_He heard his parents' thundering footsteps as they ran from their room down the hall. They barged into his room, hair mused and eyes red from the rough awakening._

_"_ _James, are you ok? What happened? Did you have a nightmare?" asked his father, approaching his bed. He shook his head._

 _"_ _It wasn't me, Daddy." They fell silent and then another sob broke the stillness. It came from across the hall. Natasha turned and opened the door. Both James and Steve were with her a second later and what they saw broke their hearts. Bianca was seated on her bed, tears and snot streaming down her face and her arms extended towards Natasha, who was already speed walking towards her._

 _"_ _Mom-my…" she sobbed, hiccupping mid word. Natasha picked her from the bed and cradled her to her chest. The girl curled into her, pressing her face into the crook of her neck and making herself as small as possible in the woman's arms. James was reminded of the way she was the first months, not separating from either his mother or father and was surprised by the way she looked almost as small as then._

 _"_ _Shh, baby girl, it's ok. I'm here, Bianca, no one's going to hurt you." Cooed Natasha, rocking the little girl in her arms. She turned to them and James saw her eyes glisten when they locked with his father's. He knew that look, they were talking with their minds; 'telepathically speaking' had called it his Uncle Viktor one day._

"Пожалуйста, не отправляй меня назад, Мама, я обещаю, что я буду хорошим! _***** Please, please, I swear I'll be a good girl! Please, mommy!" A sudden panic gripped James' heart. What?_

 _"_ _You're… you're sending her back?" he asked, his voice trembling. "Sending her where? To HYDRA?" his eyes were wide, filling and overflowing with tears. His father kneeled at his level and turned him._

 _"_ _No! No, James! Nobody is going to send her back, ok? It was just a nightmare, baby, she's not going anywhere." The boy sobbed and nodded at his father's reassurances and they could hear Natasha doing the same with Bianca. Steve picked him up and settled him on his hip before walking over to his wife._

 _"_ _No one is taking you away from us, ok? It was just a nightmare, Bianca, just a nightmare; we're not sending you back_ even _if you misbehave, ok?" she bounced the girl in her arms and she nodded, one tinny fist rubbing her irritated eyes. Natasha was quick to move it away and press a kiss over her brow. "Don't do that,_ _love_ _, you'll only make it worse." His parents shared a look and then they returned their eyes to the children. James sniffled._

 _"_ _Can she stay with us forever?" he asked, looking at his father before turning to his mother. "Can she be my baby sister?" they stared at him for a few seconds before sharing a look again –ugh!– and then looking down at the girl in question, who was watching them with hope-filled eyes._

 _"_ _Would you like that, sweetie? Do you want us to be your parents and James your brother?" Natasha tucked a strand of chocolate hair over her ear and smiled tenderly when Bianca's eyes overflowed and she nodded before sobbing and hugging her tight. James sniffled and Steve was quick to step closer to Natasha and rearrange his son so he was perched over one arm and he could use the other to embrace and bring his wife and_ daughter _closer to them. The children nuzzled closer to_ their _parents and slowly calmed down. When James opened his eyes he saw Steve and Natasha separate from their kiss and his father drop his forehead over his mother's, little smiles forming on their lips before they shared a final, lingering kiss and separated. Bianca protested, uttering a soft, shaky "No!" as she extended her hand towards the boys, but Natasha shushed her and kisses her temple._

 _"_ _Hush now, baby girl. We can't walk if we're hugging. Give us a minute, ok?" They exited Bianca's room and walked down the hall to their room and to their king bed. They laid the children in the middle and then got in it themselves, hugging each other around the waist and trapping the kids between them in the process. Bianca sighed in contentment and hugged her brother; he smiled and returned the hug._

* * *

"The next morning, it was like she'd been talking from the beginning: she asked for more milk, told you guys about the games we played the day before while you were away working and teased me when I couldn't reach the sugar." He chuckles and Steve smiles. "Her voice was weird, a bit raspy but it went away in a few days. And it took a little time to get used to, she kept spooking me when she verbally answered my questions and I think she enjoyed it, the little shit…" he grumbles, huffing silently when his parents laugh.

"Just like Natasha, then." Teases Steve, earning a mock glare from the woman at his side and an elbow on his ribs. He pouts and rubs his side, but she ignores him. It's not like she'd actually hurt him.

"You still haven't answered my question, though." James blinks and then frowns in confusion. "How did Bianca loose her arm?" his eyes widen in realization.

"Oh, right… sorry," he rubs the back of his head sheepishly, the same way Steve does, and clears his throat. "I forgot. I just wanted to explain it all so you could understand everything. It happened roughly six months after you decided to adopt Bianca…"

* * *

_It was a rainy day; the children were confined inside the compound and weren't allowed outside. Thankfully, the new AI system, ECHO, was much more interactive and child-friendly than FRIDAY had been, so the kids were entertained while their parents were busy in a top-classified meeting. Nathaniel, already in his teens, was seated in the couch with his Stark issued cell phone and pretty much ignoring his cousins in favour of some random videogame. The Bartons had moved in to the compound once Copper had passed high school and needed to be closer to NYC to be enrolled into a higher institution. Both Cooper and Lila had been reluctant to leave the farm behind, but had adjusted quickly to the life in the facility and had easily made friends with the children in the school._

_James was helping Bianca learn how to pilot the last drone their uncle had gifted her. She had been introduced to the entire family a few months back and despite their previous reservations towards the girl; the whole team had taken a liking to her almost instantly. She had been shy at first, hiding behind Natasha and then James when her mother had pushed her towards the children, but with her brother's reassurances that they were all 'cool', she had opened up and let herself be swiped away from the adults and into a whole new world._

_Thalia and Piper were playing Avenger's Cards against Scout and ECHO, who advised the youngest of the children in how he could play each card and use the bonuses against his adversaries. Just then, there was a flash in the sky and then a resounding thunder. The lights went out for a second before flickering back on, but it was enough to stop all motion in the room. Nathaniel groaned and let the phone fall from his fingers and onto the couch._

_"_ _This is so boring!" he whined, stretching his legs and then jumping to his feet. He looked around, frowning at his cousins when they just returned to their previous entertainments. "Guys, c'mon! Get up, let's do something!" his tone immediately caught Scout's attention._

 _"_ _Do what, Nate?" he asked, his voice high and exited to do something other than lie around. Thalia looked up too, intrigued and James raised a brow, already knowing it wouldn't be a good idea to get exited, it would probably be something they couldn't do anyway._

 _"_ _I don't know… let's go outside!" he raised his arms in the air. James huffed and returned his eyes at the controls in his sister's hands._

 _"_ _We can't go outside, Nathan; Мама said we had to stay here. And Uncle Viktor promised that he'd make us waffles if we behaved." Said Bianca without taking her eyes from the drone, piloting it around the room and then landing it on the table. She then turned to Nathaniel and smirked like her mother. "I don't know about you, but I want waffles." The rest murmured their agreement –_ nothing _could beat Uncle Viktor's waffles– and ignored the boy when he complained. He turned to Scout, his last hope._

 _"_ _Scout?"_

 _"_ _Sorry, nothing is worth the loss of Папа's waffles." Informs the boy, returning his attention to the card game and slapping the HULK card over the board. A hologram of the green giant appeared over the card and roared. Nathaniel sighed and returned to the couch. Five minutes later, another lightning lit the sky, followed by the deafening thunder and they were plunged into darkness once again. This time, the power didn't return. Piper looked up from the games, the only thing that illuminated the room and frowned._

 _"_ _ECHO?" no response. Scout got up from his place splayed on the floor and fidgeted. "ECHO!" The siblings abandoned the drone and moved to the centre of the room. Nathaniel and Piper soon joined them while Thalia stayed seated over the cards and slapped NICK FURY over the board. The man appeared and drew a gun, pointing it ahead._

_Another thunder cracked the stillness of the air and Scout bolted, running to Nathaniel and curling around him when he picked him up. Thalia finally abandoned the game, figuring they weren't going to finish it, and slapped all the cards of the board to make the light brighter before joining her cousins in the little circle. Bianca frowned and looked at the sky._

_"_ _There was no lightning…" she murmured and they all turned to her, blinking in confusion. "Before the thunder, there was no lightning! Uncle Bruce said that we would be able to tell the distance of the storm by counting the time between the_ lightning  _and the_ thunder _. That means that the lightning_ always _goes before the thunder." She explained and Piper's eyes widened._

 _"_ _But there wasn't any this time…" they all tensed and looked around the room._

 _Being the children of the Avengers, they had been the targets of more than one organization that was after their parents and they had taught them to always be prepared and alert. Just then, there was another resounding_ BOOM!  _The ground shook beneath their feet and the doors at each wall clamped shut in their fire alarm mode. Only that the windows didn't open like they should. Something was really wrong…_

_They could hear commotion from the conference doors, most likely their parents trying to open them. But… it almost sounded like they were… fighting?_

_There was a sound from the vents and they all looked up in time to see the grid crash to the floor and four bodies descend. They were surrounded before they could even blink, the guns pointed at them keeping them from making sudden movements. They heard their parents' shouts from the other side of the doors, it sounded like they had dispatched of the bad guys and were currently trying to open the doors. One of the men took a step forward, making all of them tense and return their attention to him._

_"_ _Subject KS-247," he said in a heavily accented voice. Bianca tensed in her place behind Piper. "Step forward!" nobody moved and the man raised his gun and shot at the ceiling before aiming the muzzle straight at Scout, who was still cradled in Nathaniel's arms. The boy turned away, shielding the youngest from the man. "Step. Forward. Subject 247!"_

 _Bianca looked at her cousins, catching the eyes of her brother. He shook his head, knowing what she was going to do, but she just smiled and mouthed_ I love you  _before stepping from behind Piper and walking towards the man, who redirected the gun at her. She could almost see the smirk from behind his mask. He motioned one of his thugs and he locked her hands behind her back with a zip tie, tightening them until it almost cut her circulation. She slammed her head back, hearing the sickening crack of his nose when it collided with her scull but didn't make another move. Half the guns were trained on her and she huffed, blowing a lock of hair away from her face._

 _"_ _Jackass…"_

_The man regained his bearings a second later and raised his hand to strike her, but the boss ordered him to back off and another man took his place. They backed away to the vent slowly, never lowering their guns and when they were all regrouped, the boss cackled in triumph and threw the children a sleeping gas bomb._

_The last thing James saw was his sister's feet disappear into the vents._

* * *

The silence that follows it's almost deafening and James takes a deep breath to collect his thoughts. He fiddles with his fingers and with his vambrace, unstrapping it and then strapping it again. When he looks up to his parents, he see's them in their favourite lounging position: seated as close together as possible, with his mother's legs over his father's and her head resting in the crook of his neck. It makes him smile, seeing that his parents have been as close as they are in his time since the start.

"When I woke up," he continues, getting their attention back. "I was in the medical bay. Auntie Pepper was there, and when I asked for you and Bianca he told me that you'd went to get her back. Turns out that the gas used to knock us out was made for elephants, so the doctors had had to intubate us and pump out our lungs." His parents' eyes widen and he's quick to explain. "Not literally! Just like a stomach pumping, but with the lungs! I think right now it's called lung washing and it's only used to treat a rare lung disease, but in a few years we're going to use it to cure smoke inhalation and such." He shakes his head; he's getting out of topic. "Anyway, I'd been out for three days already and you took another one to come back. You rushed to the medical bay, where I was with Scout –who hadn't recovered yet– and I almost fainted when I saw you run inside covered in blood and Bianca unconscious in Mom's arms." He pauses yet again, regains his bearings –letting his parents do the same in the process– and continues. "They had broken her arm in four different places as punishment for deflecting; and as you made your escape, they shot at her. I don't know how many, but  _at least_  three bullets hit, all on her shoulder, destroying it. The doctors said that they could fix it, that the arm could be saved, but that she'd never be able to use it at its full capacity: the bones, tendons and muscles were too damaged. So you decided to amputate. When she was healed, Uncle Tony made the prosthetic. He made sure that the part that was to be her shoulder could be modified as she grew, and he was happy to make new arms for her to try. We ended up having buckets of fun just experimenting with new arms." They laugh together, and the tension dissipates as he goes to tell them fun stories about their childhood.

When Bianca wakes up and walks into the living room with a yawn in her lips and her fist rubbing her eyes, she's ambushed and smothered by her parents. She looks over their shoulders to a sadly smiling James, who grins at her when she returns his smile with one of her own. She doesn't resent him for telling their parents; yes, she would've preferred to do it herself, but what's done it's done and if they were the ones to ask, James wasn't going to leave them hanging.

Steve turns and opens his arm towards the missing member in the hug, and James approaches eagerly when the girls shift so they're forming a circle, their arms around each other and their heads down, close together. They laugh to dispel the tense air that had formed; and when they separate, the teens are able to see the moistness in their parents' eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *- I know, I know… those movies are so old! In fact, none of them are even from the XXI century! The most recent one is from 1999, look at that! But those movies are literally my childhood –right next to 'The Princess Bride' and 'Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron', which (fun fact that none of you care about:) was released the same year I was born!– and I wanted to include them. If you haven't watched them, do it! They are all AWESOME!
> 
> **- Сладкие сны, мой маленький лев –– Sladkiye sny, moy malen'kiy lev –– Sweet dreams, my little lion.
> 
> ***- Мама? … … Я люблю тебя –– Mama? … … YA lyublyu tebya –– Mom? … … I love you.
> 
> ****- ПАПА! МАМА! –– PAPA! MAMA! –– DADDY! MOMMY!
> 
> *****- Пожалуйста, не отправляй меня назад, Мама, я обещаю, что я буду хорошим! –– Pozhaluysta, ne otpravlyay menya nazad, Mama, ya obeshchayu, chto ya budu khoroshim! –– Please don't send me back, Mommy, I promise I'll be good!
> 
> So... what do you think? From 1 to 10 if 1 is "this shit is pathetic I can't stand it" and 10 is "one of the best things you've ever read in FF". XD


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